The Complete Stories

De: Bernard Malamud

Narrado por: Matthew Boston, Steven Cooper, Crystal Sershen, Graham Vick

The Complete Stories of Bernard Malamud is "an essential American book", Richard Stern declared in the Chicago Tribune when the collection was published in hardcover. His praise was echoed by other reviewers and by audiences, who embraced the book as they might a displaced person in one of Malamud's stories, now returned to us, complete and fulfilled and recognized at last.

The volume gathers together 55 stories, from "Armistice" (1940) to "Alma Redeemed" (1984), and including the immortal stories from The Magic Barrel and the vivid depictions of the unforgettable Fidelman. It is a varied and generous collection of great examples of the modern short story, which Malamud perfected, and an ideal introduction to the work of this great American writer.

©1997 Ann Malamud (P)2014 Audible Inc.

One reader is very good…

Two other readers, the bass and mezzosoprano are automatons, unfortunately. Malamud as storyteller is superb.

Profound stories; profoundly bad readers

I've read these stories in print. Some are profound, some are profoundly depressing. In print, one has the option of a variety of voices depending upon the material. It is unfortunate that whoever was responsible for the picking readers chose so poorly. Whether one likes or dislikes Malamud's take on life, his writing style, his mode of telling a story, the very thought of choosing readers who are unfamiliar with the pronunciation of common yiddish words is an insult to the writer, the listener, and to the community from which Malamud comes and which he represents. I have other problems with the voices...each of these readers knows only one way in which to read these stories to us. Is this their failure, that of the director, the producer, or of all who participating in this rather awful production. In respect to Malamud, this should be redone by more knowledgeable and more conscientious professionals.

Good short stories

Though a long listen, these stories are well crafted, realistic and precise. They are never sentimental, but always meaningful and engaging. They frequently refer to a Jewish context, in a modern, nuanced and interesting way, but mainly centres around art, love and life’s struggles. Recommended.

Well ....

Many open-ended short stories .... or those who fancy filling the blanks of where the story could go ...

New Lesson: Audible Is NOT for Short Stories

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, its genius writer.

Any additional comments?

I own the hard copy of this book and know the stories well, some of which I also taught several times. I adore Malamud. I needed to re-read this particular volume, in its entirety, for a research project and thought that listening to it, instead, could be a great new way to appreciate it. Oh boy! I will never buy an audiobook of short stories again. I understand (now) that audiobooks are great for novels, but not for short narratives. You don’t have the time to get used to the voice of the narrator, to penetrate deeply a story through that performer’s voice and interpretation. It was awful. I could not pay attention, and I did not like some of the voices either (particularly, one of the female readers in the bunch).

I highly recommend this book in print but would discourage everybody from purchasing the audio-version.